The title of her presentation begged I find a quiet moment to sit and take it all in. So I stoked the fire, got comfortable and settled in. Not being one to run from bad news, I prefer to embrace it and let it make me stronger and more resolute to act in ways that I intuit may soon not be a choice. I can choose to cut my wood with a bow saw and know that I am building a bodily fitness, that may become needed, if not to cut logs by hand, but to work the land to grow food that is no longer being shipped many miles from energy intensive practices on farms persisting with industrial farming methods. In the future I’d like to think I may still have such choices, but to understate it, I’m not confident it will be the case.

Nicole begins by telling us that while her background is very much in the energy field, she and her partner have chosen to focus on the financial picture, because on the scale of time it moves much faster. However, she opens by acknowledging the energy-poor future we are heading for, and goes on to offer clear, concise data and interpret it in ways that seem to be inherently obvious. I know we can’t predict the future, but we can have fun trying, and I could find no fault in her logic.

Combine such factors such as increasing demand for energy in oil producing nations, just when production is falling and you have a recipe for a more rapid decline of available liquid fuels – the most used form of energy we have. A faster decline than is commonly shown on a Hubbert’s Peak diagrams. Onto that add an incredibly low EROEI (energy return on energy invested), and you’ll see the bio fuels and renewable energy sources can’t compete.

This just came in from Grifen Hope in Chile. Grifen is a permaculturalist and visionary who has been living there for quite a number of years now. The response to the situation there is exemplary and an inspiration for all of us as we prepare for uncertain futures. There are lots of practical things that are being requested here, and you just may find one of them fits with your knowledge base, contacts or resources. Please read on...

Think podcasts, think of being in the garden, sowing seeds, or potting seedlings, harvesting fruit, or taking a walk, and keeping up with the latest news and inspiration about the amazing transition we are going through, in this exciting time we live in.

I will get to posting the first audio (podcasts) shortly, and follow this with the essential how-to's of downloading these files to a device of your choosing for listening to at your convenience.

Wow, I just discovered a whole other world! Setting up my Twitter account has led me to find these things tonight just by putting in a couple of different searches first for transition towns, and then for local currency.

As many of you will know I offered to support the transition work in New Zealand, while facilitating the first transition workshops at the October 2007 Eco Show. The speed at which the work grew took me by surprise and I found myself running to keep up. 15 months later it is time to make some changes. I can no longer be working alone in the role of national facilitator, and it is urgent that the transition work gets more support. While I have received some financial support (for which I am most grateful) and also a little practical support, the time has come to widen the circle of people who assume some key responsibilities for this work in order to make it sustainable, and to rightly honour what has been an amazing response by many, many people all over the country.

I have been calling some people to see if they would like to attend a gathering to form a shared leadership team, and assume key roles in supporting the ongoing growth and development of the Transition work for New Zealand. » Read more